I Blame Zanzibar
by ASiriuslyGleekyTimeLord
Summary: Maggie's thoughts as she holds an unconscious Nate's head in her lap during the Zanzibar Marketplace Job. The title is because I blame the episode for giving me the idea for the story. Slight Maggie/Nate if you squint really really hard.


Disclaimer: I still don't own Leverage because my life sucks…

A/N: Okay guys…I don't like Maggie. Most of you know that I don't like Maggie because I hardly ever write about her. Although, after the Zanzibar Marketplace Job, I like her a little more because she TOLD OFF NATE! Woo! I basically just had this idea pop into my head when Nate was tasered and unconscious on the floor…after I was done screaming about the fact that Nate was screaming and unconscious on the floor. :P Anyway, here we go. I owe the ending completely to Meatball because without her saying one line, it never would have happened. Meatball, this one's for you!

I Blame Zanzibar

Maggie moaned as she came to and found herself on the cold concrete floor of a strange room. The residual pain of being tasered wore off as she looked around. "Must be the basement," she murmured before her eyes landed on the unconscious figure not too far from her. "Nate!"

Rushing to his side the first thing she did was check his pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when she found it was strong and steady. "Nate? Come on Nate, wake up," she said quietly, gently slapping the side of his face, but she got no response.

After a few minutes of failed attempts Maggie stood and walked over to the door, trying to knob only to find it was locked. "Of course," she muttered to herself before returning to Nate's side and sitting next to him on the floor. She carefully lifted his head and let it rest in her lap and her fingers began the familiar motion of running through his auburn curls soothingly. Leaning back, she came into contact with some shelves and rested her head against them before closing her eyes.

_It wasn't long after they lost Sam that Margaret Ford found her husband Nathan on the floor of their dead son's bedroom. He had looked so vulnerable then that Maggie couldn't help but pity him. She wanted to tell him she was leaving, but just couldn't bring herself to do it when she saw him._

"_Nate?" she murmured, knocking to let him know she was there before going to the broken man she had once known. Maggie crouched down next to him and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Nate, come on," she urged, trying to get him off the floor, but he just shrugged away from her touch. Sighing, she sat down with her back to Sam's bed. She let Nathan be for a few minutes and then he was shifting so he could lay his head down in her lap._

"_Do you need to talk about it?" she asked as she started to gently stroke his hair._

"_No," Nate's voice rasped. Maggie nodded and just sat there in silence. "He's gone," her husband said a few minutes later. "He's just…gone…"_

"_I know Nathan, I miss him too," Maggie whispered._

"_I should have done more. I was his father; I should have done more to help him, to protect him…to save him…" Nate trailed off at the end and Maggie felt him start to cry as the sobs wracked his body. _

"_No Nate, there wasn't anything more you could have done. Both of us did all that we could to help him. It's not our fault, and it's especially not your fault. You loved him, we both loved him and he knew that," she said, tears coming to her eyes._

_Her own pain had been intense in the past couple of weeks, but her husband had been so broken that he hadn't been able to give her any kind of comfort. But now, sitting there in his room, they were both finally able to openly grieve the loss of their son. And so she held Nate close as they cried…_

Maggie's eyes flew open when she felt Nate starting to shift in her lap. He would be waking up soon. She could only hope that maybe he would have some plan to get them out of this. Of course, the others were probably already looking for them. She couldn't believe that they had all come to help her, and she even wondered what was up with that new girl, Tara.

Nate moaned beneath her hand and she ceased her movement. "Nate? Are you with me?" she whispered, but his eyes didn't open. Not much longer then.

Maggie still cared about Nate, there was no question about it, but she knew that he had other people, and another woman in his life now. She wasn't a part of that life, and she didn't think it would be a good idea for her to try to be.

Nate's eyes opened and he sat up in a rush. "What happened?" he asked, holding a hand to his head.

"I think we were tasered," Maggie replied as he stumbled to his feet and headed towards the door. "It's locked, I already tried it," she said, but still, he jiggled the handle, tried to turn it, tried to pull it and nothing happened. "Men…" Maggie muttered in frustration.

The one thing they had in common had died and left them broken. There was nothing left there holding them together. But now, they would have a common connection again…

They would always have Ukraine.


End file.
